Africa: According to the military government, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s ousted President Roch Kabore has been getting a permit to return to his home in the capital.
Since January, Mr Kaboré has been under house arrest in a ministerial villa in the capital when he was ousted in a coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who is now the head of state.
His own party confirmed the news that he had been freed now; however, they did not give any further details.
The announcement of his release comes after weeks of talks.
It also comes in response to international calls for his release.
The government went on to say that precautions were being taken to ensure his safety.
“The government of Burkina Faso informs the public that after talks started a little more than three weeks ago, the former president of Burkina Faso will return to his home in (the capital) Ouagadougou on April 6,” the transitional government said in a brief statement.
Last month, the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had expressed “deep concern over the continued detention of Kabore since the coup, despite several calls for his unconditional release.”
The bloc had demanded the release of Kabore “no later than March 31, 2022, beyond which it threatened to impose individual sanctions on the transitional authorities.”
Like Mali and Guinea, ECOWAS suspended Burkina Faso from its governing bodies after the military overthrew President Kabore.
About:
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is a Burkinabé banker and politician who functioned as the President of Burkina Faso from 2015 until he was ousted in 2022. He was the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso between 1994 and 1996 and President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2002 to 2012.
Burkina Faso, which means “land of honest men“, has important reserves of gold, but the country has witnessed domestic and external concerns over the state of its economy and human rights. A former French colony, it gained independence as Upper Volta in 1960.
